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Moist shed hide/recomendation

L

LGRIGG

New member
calling all old hands. I have been having problems with patchy shed(six corns with two more on the way). I feel sure it is due to low humidity.The fact that I have chapped lips is a dead giveaway.lol!
I have begun to use a moist hide container with moistened aspen to avoid having to soak(which does work well itself - just don't like to have to do it all the time). I put the moist hide in when I see they are in blue. It seems to help.

What I am wondering is does it make any difference healthwise what I use in these containers? Would vermiculite or sphagnum moss be better?
Can I leave them in for more than a week? The snakes seem to enjoy them even when not in blue.
I've read quite alot here and love the pro advice. I also see that aspen appears to be the most popular all around choice as subtrate however I was recently warned by a local herp enthusiast that I would definately end up with mites at some point by using aspen. He says to use newspaper or paper towels. eeew creepy crawly bug infestation! Any thoughts? Thanks for your input. Lynn
 
I've used aspen since 2005, from a variety of sources, a variety of brands, and I have never had mites.

Aspen molds when wet. Use sphagnum moss in the moist hide.

What are you keeping the snakes in? Bins or glass tanks?
 
This winter has been awful for humidity in this area. I finally bought a humidifier for reptile room. I can't remember a winter in NC ever being as dry as this one.

I've used aspen for 15 years and never had mites.

Whoever you talked to might be confusing reptiles mites with wood lice or spring tails. I did, many moons ago, get a bag of aspen from wholesaler that had some spring tails in it. Those are harmless to the reptiles and are only a minor annoyance. For what it's worth, the wholesaler had a massive open air building and kept all kinds of garden supplies, so that was probably the origin.

But that was only one bag out of 100's of pounds of aspen I've used over the years.

You should have no problems at all with aspen if you maintain clean cages. Nanci is right, it can mold if it get's wet, but that should be the worst of the problems. Aspen is awesome for corns snakes.

With the moist hides, I use sphagnum moss as well. Just wring it out really well to where it just barely feels moist. Then mist the cage as needed.
 
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yes, I too use the spaghnum moss and find that it works well.
and it wont grow mold! ;)

I also wouldn't leave the moist hide in the tank any longer then the shed cycle, as too high of humidity will cause scale rot or a RI.. but if you find your snakes really love the moss hides, keeping DRY spaghnum moss in their while they arnt in shed is perfectly fine.

Alot of corn snakes love their moss hides, you just need to be sure their isn't any moisture in it when its not needed.;)

I hope this helps!
 
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